"Iowa Supreme Court rules college must help blind" Associated Press June 28, 2014
IOWA CITY — The Iowa Supreme Court ordered the nation’s leading chiropractic college Friday to make accommodations to allow blind students to complete degrees, in an important victory for the rights of the disabled.
The court rejected Palmer College of Chiropractic’s contention that eyesight is a requirement for the profession, which involves adjusting patients’ spines to treat back pain. The Davenport, Iowa-based college argued that chiropractors must be able to read X-rays to deliver safe and effective adjustments, and that allowing blind students to rely on assistants for that information wasn’t feasible.
Writing for the majority in a 5-2 decision, Justice Daryl Hecht said the college discriminated when it did not allow student Aaron Cannon to pursue a degree with the help of a sighted reader. He said that accommodation would not ‘‘fundamentally alter’’ Palmer’s educational standards, given that many chiropractors rely on outside experts to take X-rays.
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